IP Library Granted Patent US 11,636,864
Granted Patent B2
US 11,636,864 · App. 17/079,896 · Granted Apr 25, 2023

Multiple scrambled layers for audio watermarking

Inventors: Vladimir Kuznetsov (Ellicott City, MD); Sadhana Gupta (Columbia, MD); Wendell Lynch (East Lansing, MI)
Assignee: The Nielsen Company (US), LLC
G10L19/018G06T1/0028G06T1/0071
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,636,864
App. No.
17/079,896
Granted
Apr 25, 2023
Kind
B2
Abstract

Apparatus, systems, articles of manufacture, and methods are disclosed for multiple scrambled layers for audio watermarking. An example system includes a processor to execute instructions to: divide the watermark into a plurality of watermark symbols; map the watermark symbols to a plurality of frequency bins according to a first distribution scheme to create a first watermark layer having a first combination of the frequency bins and a second watermark layer having a second combination of the frequency bins, subsets of adjacent ones of the plurality of frequency bins grouped into a corresponding plurality of frequency clumps; determine a sequence for shifting watermark symbols between the frequency clumps to cause different combinations of watermark symbols that include one watermark symbol from each watermark layer to share up to a first number of frequency bins, the first number of frequency bins to be less than a number of watermark symbols in respective ones of the different combinations; and generate a second distribution scheme to map the watermark symbols in accordance with the sequence.

Claims (40)

1. A system to map a distribution scheme for encoding an audio signal with a watermark, the system comprising:

a processor to execute computer readable instructions to:

divide the watermark into a plurality of watermark symbols;

map the watermark symbols to a plurality of frequency bins according to a first distribution scheme to create a plurality of watermark layers including a first watermark layer having a first combination of the frequency bins and a second watermark layer having a second combination of the frequency bins, the first combination of the frequency bins and the second combination of the frequency bins to partially overlap, subsets of adjacent ones of the plurality of frequency bins grouped into a corresponding plurality of frequency clumps;

determine a sequence for shifting watermark symbols between the frequency clumps to cause different combinations of watermark symbols that include one watermark symbol from each watermark layer to share up to a first number of frequency bins, the first number of frequency bins to be less than a number of watermark symbols in respective ones of the different combinations; and

generate a second distribution scheme to map the watermark symbols in accordance with the sequence; and

a transceiver to communicate the second distribution scheme to a device.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the sequence is to shift the watermark symbols of the first watermark layer and the second watermark layer distributed in a first frequency bin in a first frequency clump to a second frequency bin in a second frequency clump to generate the second distribution scheme.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the first frequency bin and the second frequency bin are separated by a first distance.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the processor is to shift the watermark symbols of the first watermark layer and the second watermark layer distributed in a third frequency bin in the first frequency clump to a fourth frequency bin in a third frequency clump to generate the second distribution scheme.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the third frequency bin and the fourth frequency bin are separated a second distance, the second distance different than the first distance.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the processor is to shift the watermark symbols of the first watermark layer and the second watermark layer distributed in a fifth frequency bin in the first frequency clump to a sixth frequency bin in a fourth frequency clump to generate the second distribution scheme, the fifth frequency bin and the sixth frequency bin separated by a third distance, the third distance different than the first distance or the second distance.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the processor is to progressively shift the watermark symbols such that the first distance is less than the second distance, and the second distance is less than the third distance.

8. The system of claim 6 , wherein the processor is to randomly shift the watermark symbols.

9. The system of claim 3 , wherein with the shift of the watermark symbols from the first frequency clump to the second frequency clump, the processor is to shift the watermark symbols distributed in corresponding frequency bins in other frequency clumps by the first distance.

10. The system of claim 2 , wherein for n number of frequency bins in a frequency clump, the processor is to perform n−1 shifts of the watermark symbols of the first watermark layer and the second watermark layer to generate the second distribution scheme, different ones of the shifts to move the watermark symbols between different frequency clumps so the shifts are of different distances.

11. The system of claim 2 , wherein the processor is to further shift the watermark symbols of the first watermark layer and the second watermark layer distributed in a third frequency bin in the first frequency clump to a fourth frequency bin in the first frequency clump.

12. The system of claim 1 , wherein the sequence is to shift the watermark symbols in the second watermark layer in the frequency clumps by a different distance for different frequency clumps.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the sequence is a first sequence, and the processor is to:

map the watermark symbols to the plurality of frequency bins in the plurality of frequency clumps according to the first distribution scheme to create a third watermark layer having a third combination of the frequency bins, the third combination of the frequency bins at least partially overlapping with the first combination of the frequency bins and the second combination of the frequency bins;

determine a second sequence for shifting watermark symbols among the frequency bins; and

generate the second distribution scheme to map the watermark symbols in the third layer in the frequency clumps in accordance with the second sequence.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the second sequence is to shift the watermark symbols in the third watermark layer in the frequency clumps by a different distance for the different frequency clumps.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the processor is to:

determine respective differences between the shifts of the second layer in the first sequence and the shifts of the third layer in the second sequence for the frequency clumps;

compare the differences;

determine if any two of the difference are equal; and

in response to two of the differences being equal, determine a third sequence for shifting the watermark symbols in the third watermark layer to replace the second sequence.

16. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is to randomly reorganize the watermark symbols in the second watermark layer based on the first watermark layer, and the sequence is to shift the watermark symbols in the second watermark layer in the frequency clumps by a different distance for different frequency clumps.

17. The system of claim 1 , wherein the sequence is a first sequence, the frequency bins contain a pair of symbols that include a symbol from the first layer and a symbol from the second layer, and the processor is to:

determine if a pair of symbols shares more than one frequency bin;

based on a determination that a pair of symbols shares more than one frequency bin, determine a second sequence for shifting watermark symbols between frequency bins; and

map the watermark symbols in accordance with the second sequence to generate the second distribution scheme.

18. The system of claim 1 , wherein a difference between the first number of frequency bins and the number of watermark symbols in the respective combination is one.

19. An encoder for encoding an audio signal with a watermark, the encoder comprising:

a parser to:

divide the audio signal into a plurality of frequency clumps with a plurality of adjacent frequency bins in the plurality of frequency clumps;

divide the watermark into N watermark symbols; and

distribute the watermark symbols to the plurality of frequency bins in the plurality of frequency clumps in accordance with a distribution scheme to create a plurality of watermark layers, the distribution scheme to cause different combinations of watermark symbols that include one watermark symbol from each watermark layer to share up to a maximum number of frequency bins, the maximum number of frequency bins being less than a number of watermark symbols in respective ones of the different combinations; and

a synthesizer to synthesize an encoded audio signal with the watermark symbols distributed in the audio signal in accordance with the distribution scheme.

Assignments (4)
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded May 8, 2023
From: GRACENOTE DIGITAL VENTURES, LLC; GRACENOTE MEDIA SERVICES, LLC; GRACENOTE, INC.; TNC (US) HOLDINGS, INC.; THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC
To: ARES CAPITAL CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 063574/0632 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Apr 28, 2023
From: GRACENOTE DIGITAL VENTURES, LLC; GRACENOTE MEDIA SERVICES, LLC; GRACENOTE, INC.; TNC (US) HOLDINGS, INC.; THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC
To: CITIBANK, N.A.
Reel/Frame 063561/0381 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Jan 31, 2023
From: GRACENOTE DIGITAL VENTURES, LLC; GRACENOTE MEDIA SERVICES, LLC; GRACENOTE, INC.; TNC (US) HOLDINGS, INC.; THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC
To: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A.
Reel/Frame 063560/0547 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jan 25, 2021
From: KUZNETSOV, VLADIMIR; GUPTA, SADHANA; LYNCH, WENDELL
To: THE NIELSEN COMPANY (US), LLC
Reel/Frame 055014/0681 →
Continuity (2)
Continuation 16225438 · Dec 19, 2018
Related Publication 20210043217A1 · Feb 11, 2021